Assistant Professor of Music Mark Snyder has been named a quarterfinalist for the 2017 Grammy Educator Award, which is presented by the Recording Academy and the Grammy Foundation. Dr. Snyder is one of 290 quarterfinalists from more than 3,300 nominations.

The Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college, public and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. Finalists for the award will be announced in September and the full list of quarterfinalists can be found here.

At the University of Mary Washington, Dr. Snyder teaches Technology for Musicians, the Freshman Seminar Ballades, Beats & Bandcamp, Electronic Music, Audio Recording, Audio Production, Music of Non-Western Cultures, Theory & Skills (1, 2 & 3), MIDI Composition, Great Masterworks, Composition lessons and Orchestration. Since arriving in 2011, he designed the new music curriculum, built the recording studio, the ten seat music production lab and is the creator and director of the Electroacoustic Barn Dance, a three day festival of electronic music and art that brings as many as ninety composers and performers from around the world to campus each year.

Out of the courses Mark has taught at UMW, 47 students have had 85 adjudicated/peer reviewed performances of their works at national conferences in the last four years,119 compositions by 58 UMW composers have been performed 347 times at 124 concerts and 29 UMW student musicians have performed those compositions 194 times at 121 concerts. Highlights have included Austin O’Rourke winning the 2015 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Stephen Hennessey being named a finalist for the 2016 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and Becky Brown’s Hold Still being selected by adjudication to be on the Society of Electroacoustic Composers in the United States CD that will be released by Naxos, the largest major label for classical music, in 2016.

Below is one of the videos submitted for the Grammy Quarterfinalist application and a list of Dr. Snyder’s students’ composition accomplishments for the 2015/2016 academic year.

2015-2016 Student Composition Performances for 2015-2016 FAAR

Total Performances: 95 in 12 states, Germany and China

Adjudicated National: 22

Adjudicated Regional: 8

International: 6

Key:

△Adjudicated ✢Invited ✮International ✻National ❖Regional ❏Local

Becky Brown

Hold Still (Independent Study: Spring 2015) Voted to be included on SEAMUS CD 26 to be released on major label, Naxos.

• Root Signals Electronic Music Festival, Jacksonville University – FL: Sep 11, 2015 △ ✻
• West Fork New Music Festival, Fairmont State University – WV: Sep 25, 2015 △ ❖
• Electroacoustic Barn Dance, University of Mary Washington – VA: Oct 2, 2015 △ ✻
• Marshall University – WV: Oct 9, 2015 ✢
• Marietta College – OH: Oct 10,2015 ✢
• Capital University – OH: Oct 11, 2015 ✢
• Ohio University – OH: Oct 12, 2015 ✢
• Electronic Music Midwest, Kansas City Community College – KS: Nov 20, 2015 △ ✻
• Society of Electroacoustic Composers in the U.S. National Conference, GSU – GA: Feb 12, 2016 △ ✻
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢
• Society of Composers Inc. Region III Conference, Marshall University – WV: Feb 26, 2016 △ ❖
• Zeitgeist Gallery Nashville, TN: Feb 28,2016 ✢
• Eyedrum Gallery Atlanta, GA: Feb 29, 2016 ✢
• Georgia Southern University – GA: Mar 1, 2016 ✢
• Women Composers Festival of Hartford – CT: Mar 11, 2016 △ ✻
• Ball State University New Music Festival – IN: Mar 18, 2016 △ ✻
• Le Lab Cambridge Gallery Boston, MA: Mar 26, 2016 ✢
• Rutgers University – NJ: Mar 28, 2016 ✢
• Brooklyn College International Electroacoustic Music Festival – NY: Mar 31, 2016 ✢
• Classical Revolution, Richmond, VA: May 15, 2016 ✢
• Virginia to Beijing, University of International Business and Economics – China Jul 13, 2016 ✮ ✢

Formaldehyde (MIDI Composition: Spring 2012) Released Jan 21, 2014 Internationally on Nature Boy Explorer, One of These Days

• Colonial Tavern, Fredericksburg, VA: Dec 4, 2016 ❏
• Spargelfest, Schwetzingen Germany: Jun 11, 2016 ✮
• Musikschule Bezirk Schwetzingen Germany: Jun 12, 2016 ✮

Underwater (Audio Recording: Spring 2015)

• Colonial Tavern, Fredericksburg, VA: Dec 4, 2016 ❏
• Spargelfest, Schwetzingen Germany: Jun 11, 2016 ✮
• Musikschule Bezirk Schwetzingen Germany: Jun 12, 2016 ✮

Austin O’Rourke

Hazel Colored Nebula (Electronic Music: Fall 2014) 2015 ASCAP Morton Gould Award Winner

• Root Signals Electronic Music Festival, Jacksonville University – FL: Sep 11, 2015 △ ✻
• West Fork New Music Festival, Fairmont State University – WV: Sep 25, 2015 △ ❖
• Electroacoustic Barn Dance, University of Mary Washington – VA: Oct 2, 2015 △ ✻
• UMW Composers Concert, Hurley Convergence Center – VA: Feb 19, 2016 ❏
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢
• UMW Philharmonic South of the Border – VA: Apr 22, 2016 ❏

Gridlife (Electronic Music: Fall 2014)

• UMW Composers Concert, Hurley Convergence Center – VA: Feb 19, 2016 ❏
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢

Cloud (Composition: Fall 2015)

• UMW Composers Concert, Hurley Convergence Center – VA: Feb 19, 2016 ❏
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢

Memory Aberation (Senior Seminar: Spring 2016)

• UMW Goolrick Pool for Thesis Presentation: Apr 8, 2016 ❏
• UMW Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium: Apr 22, 2016 ❏

Mitsubishi ad (Technology for Musicians: Spring 2016)

• UMW Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium: Apr 22, 2016 ❏

Almost but Not (Technology for Musicians: Spring 2016)

• Spargelfest, Schwetzingen Germany: Jun 11, 2016 ✮
• Musikschule Bezirk Schwetzingen Germany: Jun 12, 2016 ✮

Stephen Hennessey

Ausgang (Independent Study: Spring 2014)

• Root Signals Electronic Music Festival, Jacksonville University – FL: Sep 11, 2015 △ ✻
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢
• Society of Composers Inc. Region III Conference, Marshall University – WV: Feb 26, 2016 △ ❖

Sorrows Weep Not (Independent Study: Spring 2014) 2016 ASCAP Morton Gould Award Finalist

• West Fork New Music Festival, Fairmont State University – WV: Sep 25, 2015 △ ❖
• Electroacoustic Barn Dance, University of Mary Washington – VA: Oct 2, 2015 △ ✻
• Society of Electroacoustic Composers in the U.S. National Conference, GSU – GA: Feb 12, 2016 △ ✻
• UMW Composers Concert, Hurley Convergence Center – VA: Feb 19, 2016 ❏
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢
• Ball State University New Music Festival – IN: Mar 18, 2016 △ ✻

Mary Paige Rogers

Powers Music (Composition: Spring 2015)

• West Fork New Music Festival, Fairmont State University – WV: Sep 25, 2015 △ ❖

Psychotropic (Electronic Music Fall 2014)

• Electroacoustic Barn Dance, University of Mary Washington – VA: Oct 2, 2015 △ ✻
• UMW Composers Concert, Hurley Convergence Center – VA: Feb 19, 2016 ❏
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢

Con todo mi corazón (Composition Fall 2015)

• UMW Composers Concert, Hurley Convergence Center – VA: Feb 19, 2016 ❏
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢

Justin Carrico

Fortune Music (Composition Spring 2015)

• West Fork New Music Festival, Fairmont State University – WV: Sep 25, 2015 △ ❖
• UMW Composers Concert, Hurley Convergence Center – VA: Feb 19, 2016 ❏
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢

Domesticity (Electronic Music Fall 2015)

• Electroacoustic Barn Dance, University of Mary Washington – VA: Oct 2, 2015 △ ✻

Michael Prime

Invocation Music (Composition Spring 2015)

• West Fork New Music Festival, Fairmont State University – WV: Sep 25, 2015 △ ❖
• UMW Composers Concert, Hurley Convergence Center – VA: Feb 19, 2016 ❏
• University of Virginia Composer Exchange – VA: Feb 20, 2016 ✢
• UMW Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium: Apr 22, 2016 ❏

John White

Blink (Private Composition Lessons 2015)

• Electroacoustic Barn Dance, University of Mary Washington – VA: Oct 2, 2015 △ ✻

Fall 2015 Electronic Music Class Concerts

Electroacoustic Barn Dance: Oct 2, 2015

• Brie Payne-Werlitz ,Rachel Lee, Flannery Collins, Mya Payne, Joe Cheeks, Everett Rankin, Mona Osmer

Soul Searching Synths UMW Electronic Music Class Concert: Nov 3, 2015

• Justin Carrico, Brie Payne-Werlitz ,Rachel Lee, Flannery Collins, Mya Payne, Joe Cheeks, Everett Rankin, Mona Osmer

Things You Will Never Understand UMW Electronic Music Class Concert: December 5, 2015

• Justin Carrico, Brie Payne-Werlitz ,Rachel Lee, Flannery Collins, Mya Payne, Joe Cheeks, Everett Rankin, Mona Osmer

Spring 2016 Undergraduate Research and Creativity Day  Apr 22, 2016

• Ben Jones: The Right Words to Say (Technology for Musicians Spring 2016)
• Drake Dragone: Vox Lily (Composition Spring 2016)
• Cole Mastitis : A Moment’s Hesitation (Composition Spring 2016)
• Joe Cheeks: Mitsubishi ad (Technology for Musicians Spring 2016)
• Mya Payne: House (Electronic Music Fall 2015)
• Daniel Shea: Save Me (Technology for Musicians Spring 2015)
• Gwen Levey: Caving (Composition: Spring 2016)

Assistant Professor of Music Mark Snyder‘s original multimedia composition, Calena, was presented at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China, as part of a program featuring the works of composers from the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, William & Mary and the University of Mary Washington.

Assistant Professor of Music Mark Snyder performed his original composition Qwee for processed harp, accordion and video at the Classical Revolution’s Night of the Living Composer at Balliceaux in Richmond, Va., on May 15. Accompanying him was UMW alum harpist Becky Brown ’15, who performed her original composition, Hold Still, a multimedia self-portrait for pencil, copper, Arduino on paper, poetry and video in Max.

Classical Revolution is a Richmond-based collective of passionate musicians whose goal is to integrate classical music with Richmond’s vibrant music scene by taking this universal art form out of its glass case and into local bars, restaurants, cafes, and galleries. Classical Revolution was founded in 2006 at Revolution Cafe in the Mission District of San Francisco. In October of 2012, Classical Revolution RVA became one of more than 30 chapters worldwide.

The program:

Night of the Living Composer- May 15

Scott Frankel – Around the World;  Will You, Gabrielle Maes, soprano; Daniel Stipe, piano

Walter Augustus Braxton – Soliloquy from the Dance Suite Opus 4, No.7 for Flute and Piano, Walter Braxton, piano; Jeremy McEntire, flute

Jake Heggie – I Never Saw a Moor, Nichole Savage, soprano

Improvisation by Niccolo Seligmann, viola da gamba/medieval fiddle

Tonia Ko – Glass Echoes, Kristen Fowler, horn

Joseph Taylor – Harp Etude No. 1  & No. 2, Laura Seabourne, harp

Robert Andrew Scott – Meditations, Brandon Simmons, alto flute; Stephanie Barrett, cello; Laura Seabourne, harp; Caleb Paxton, viola

–Intermission–

Mark Snyder – Qwee, Becky Brown, harp;  Mark Snyder, harp, accordion, electronics

Becky Brown – Hold Still, Becky Brown, live art & electronics

Steve Van Dam – Oro Aleatorio, 3-8 musicians

Assistant Professor of Music Mark Snyder’s original composition, Our House on the Hill, was released by Fuzzy Panda Records on the compilation Thirsty and Miserable in memory of Jeff Prosser on April 3, 2016. The recording was done at the University of Mary Washington Department of Music’s recording studio featuring Becky Brown ’15 on harp and assistant engineer Paige Naylor ’14 soprano and assistant engineer and Mark Snyder on bass, guitar, piano, synth, organ, producer, composer and engineer.

Jeffrey Prosser, a D.C. graphic designer and integral part of the Washington, D.C., experimental music scene as both musician and promoter, passed away on April 3, 2015. He was an exceedingly sweet and generous man with many friends across D.C.’s various music and arts scenes and beyond. Shortly after his death, two memorial concerts were organized in Adams Morgan and Fredericksburg, Va. Now, some of his musician friends have put together a compilation in his honor, titled Thirsty and Miserable, a phrase Jeffrey was particularly fond of.

The compilation features 21 artists who knew and loved Jeffrey, featuring both locals and musicians from farther afield. The artwork includes designs by Jeffrey, including art for fliers he designed to promote shows around the D.C. area. Proceeds from sales of the compilation go to Bread for the City, a charity selected by the Prosser family.

Mark and Jeff were friends in high school and played music together in the basement of their mutual friend, Holmes Ives, and later in Richmond where Jeff worked at Peaches Record and Tapes and would make sure Mark always got the music he needed and at a discount. “I am so honored to be a part of this compilation,” said Snyder. “Jeff was always so generous and kind and a lot of fun to make art with. He will be missed greatly.”

Assistant Professor of Music Mark Snyder, performed his piece Qwee for processed soprano, harp, accordion and video at the 2016 Society of Composer Incorporated Region III Conference at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, on Feb. 26. Accompanying him were UMW alums harpist Becky Brown ’15 and soprano Paige Naylor ’14.

Dr. Snyder’s former students also presented their works at the same conference. Becky Brown’s Hold Still, a multimedia self-portrait for pencil, copper and Arduino on paper and video in Max/MSP/Jitter and original poetry from the composer was featured on concert 4:

along with Stephen Hennessey’s Ausgang, a sentimental work structured around the development of a simple melody through episodic processing featuring the composer on guitar.

In addition to performing at SCI, Mark gave a master class on his music at the University of Louisville and performed his solo show at Dreamland on Feb. 24.

Performances of his solo show were also held at Eyedrum in Atlanta Feb. 29, at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA March 1, and the show at Zeitgeist Gallery  was the Nashville Scene’s Critics pick for Feb. 28.